


shoot for the moon

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Polyamory, Pre-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-06 14:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4224666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>because even if you miss, you will land among the stars.</p>
<p>“Well. That’s not scientifically accurate, for one,” says Rei.<br/>“Yeah, but, <i>Rei-chan</i>. It’s <i>beautiful</i>,” protests Nagisa.<br/>“T-that,” splutters Rei. “N-no, Nagisa-kun. That is not how this <i>works</i>.”</p>
<p>(Or: Rei explains the laws of beauty.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_a certain amount of it needs to be natural,_  
  _uninhibited,_  
_–_ free _, you could say_

 

 

 

 

 

The first law of beauty that Rei decided on is ironically the last one he learns. He had been taught it by Nanase Haruka, the boy whose beauty is so unregulated and wild and sleek that Rei could spend hours just sighing over the way his hand sliced clean lines through the water. It is an inherent beauty, but one that strikes you the second you laid eyes on the boy. This law is also the one that Rei has most trouble with, because no matter how hard he tries to be in his natural state, somehow he always falls into trying to control every motion by theory alone.

“Rei-chan, don’t be creepy.”

He spins his head around so fast at that that he almost cracks his neck. Flushing furiously and rubbing his throat as an apology for its brush with near-death, Rei glares at Nagisa with enough heat to burn down an Amazonian forest. Unfortunately, Nagisa seems heat resistant.

“You’ve been staring at Haru-chan with all the intensity of a hunting lion,” he says by way of explanation. Rei flushes darker, threatening to verge on purple.

“ _Nagisa-kun_ ,” he stresses the syllables on purpose, nearly biting out the name. “ _Keep your voice down_.”

His friend simply shrugs and laughs, turning back to focus his nagging on Gou-san sitting across from them. Lunch time is usually spent in their meeting place on the roof, but sometimes the group has it in the cafeteria with the rest of the student body. It was mainly Makoto’s idea, since the captain thought that isolating themselves was perhaps not the _best_ way to get more members for the swim club; but Gou-san had also been most enthusiastic about this plan. She probably felt a little bad for constantly ditching her friend Hanamura Chigusa to spend time with Rei and Nagisa instead. That would be Nagisa’s fault, obviously. The boy has no use for tact.

Hanamura Chigusa is beside Gou-san and is now studying Rei curiously. She is a friendly girl and not one to look too far beneath the surface but Rei still colors under her scrutiny. She smiles and drops her head down to concentrate on her lunch, glancing quickly to her right to take in the sight of Haruka-senpai and Makoto-senpai sharing a lunch box. Rei finds the cafeteria very hot suddenly.

“In any case,” he says loudly, startling Nagisa and Gou out of their conversation. “The lion does not hunt. The lioness does. So your simile is far from accurate, Nagisa-kun.”

Nagisa squints at him. “Are you trying to drag this out?” he asks. “Because I’d think you’d want to continue this conversation somewhere private.”

Rei makes an effort to look blasé. “What conversation? No one was looking at anyone in any level of inappropriate intensity.”

“ _Please_ ,” Nagisa waves his hand, pooh-poohing Rei’s attempt. “I bet Haru-chan could feel his entire body starting to heat up, the way you were watching him.”

“ _Nagisa-kun_ , I was _not_.”

“Uh, you kind of _were_.”

“Not.”

“Were.”

“ _Not!_ ”

“Definitely were!” The blond turns abruptly to the girls. “Gou-chan, back me up!”

“Nagisa-kun,” Gou-san sighs, clearly thinking _it’s Kou, oh forget it_ , “stop teasing Rei-kun.”

The boy turns back to Rei, nodding decisively. “That’s a yes.”

“You are being totally juvenile and also very untruthful, Nagisa-kun,” Rei says in very pompous tones, “I was merely glancing across the cafeteria and happened to catch sight of Haruka-senpai and Makoto-senpai. And I was not _staring_.”

Nagisa and Gou stares at him; Chigusa-san shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “Even you know that that sounds like a load of bull, right?” Gou asks him kindly. Rei drops his head on the table with an audible smack.

“Oh, Rei-chan,” Nagisa giggles. “You don’t have to be _embarrassed_ about your little crush. Literally everyone’s had a crush on Haru-chan at one point or another; it’s practically a rite of _passage_. Right Gou-chan?”

“Do you even hear what you’re _saying_ –?”

“Except she probably had the crush back when we were kids,” Nagisa continues, talking over Gou’s half-hearted protests. “Big brother’s pals and all that cliché.”

“That would include you,” Gou says acidly. They check each other out, looking up and down in mirroring movements that is disconcerting to watch. Rei uses the time to wonder if they were perhaps twins in a past life.

“Ew,” they both declare at the same time, turning back to Rei resolutely.

“He is kind of right, though, Rei-kun,” Gou concedes in reluctance. “You don’t have to be embarrassed with us, at any rate.”

“I don’t– oh fine,” he sighs, fearing the look of tenacity in Nagisa’s eyes. “Maybe… I find Haruka-senpai rather pleasing to look at.”

“He has the triceps of a cougar,” Gou nods sagely.

“His eyes are the most beautiful shade of blue,” Chigusa-san puts in with a small sigh. Then she wrinkles her nose. “He’s just a little… strange.”

“Oh, that’s just Haru-chan,” Nagisa waves his hand. Rei wonders whether to inform him that that doesn’t exactly defend Haruka-senpai. “You get used to him. He’s just quiet and not very keen on making friends. That’s why he seems weird. I think only Mako-chan and Rin-chan gets him, to be honest.”

Yes, the circle for Haru’s trust is certainly small. Nagisa is in it, for all that he doesn’t think he is. It had seemed to Rei, watching from the distance he is at, that Nanase Haruka had a special place for everyone in his life. Makoto is the closest to him, with Rin coming a close second: these two understood Haru to a degree that could only be achieved by the amount of history that came from being friends, being rivals and, finally, being family. Nagisa is Haru’s tether to other people, his wake-up call. And Rei.

Well, Rei likes to think that he understood beauty the same way Haru did and that that is his place in Haru’s life. It is the only way to explain his strange tendency towards the butterfly stroke, at least. There has to be a reason that Haruka-senpai only swam free, Rei thought as he watched the swimmer speeding through his laps, and he only swam butterfly. Feeling is the only thing that made sense.

“Your timing got a little longer, Haruka-senpai,” he tells his senior as he pulls himself out of the pool, shaking water droplets out of his hair. “You need more consistency.”

“Hmm,” is all Haru intones as he takes the towel Rei handed over. Haru wipes his face dry with a sigh and turns to watch Makoto finish, Nagisa watching his time for him. There is a curious tension in his muscles as he watches his friend being pulled out of the pool by the blonde. It floods out of him with a drop of the shoulders when Makoto looks over at the two of them and smiles.

Rei feels a wash of heat prickle his skin and identifies it hazily as jealousy. He wants that closeness to Haruka-senpai. He wants to understand him to that degree too.

He wants to understand what makes him and Haru beautiful in exactly the same way.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

_it needs to make sense,_  
  _logically_ ,  
_mentally_ ,  
  
  
  
  
  
… _tangibly_

 

 

 

 

 

“Oi,” snaps Rin, “you’re not paying attention to me.”

This is unfair because Rei has always paid excruciating attention to Matsuoka Rin. Initially because he wanted to pinpoint how he could emulate the senior’s fantastic butterfly without losing his own style; but over time, it is simply because Rin is fascinating to watch in water. He commands it, uses the environment like a ninja would; every detail is well-thought out and calculated, but not by actual thinking and rather by instinct. Rei feels a certain kinship with Rin; not only because they are both butterfly swimmers, but also because he understands Rin and his drive. Rin’s dream to be an Olympic swimmer is not far out of reach, in Rei’s opinion. He often wishes that he was still in track so that he too can show Rin how magnificent he can be.

“ _Rei_ ,” comes Rin’s annoyed tone and Rei jerks his head up, eyes widening as Rin pulls himself out of the pool to stride towards him.

“Whoa–  ah,” he stammers, reflexively holding out a towel. Rin snatches it from him and rubs his hair, still glaring at him. “Sorry, Rin-san.”

The redhead rolls his eyes, flinging the now damp towel into Rei’s face. For one second, Rei wants to press the towel to his face and try to distinguish Rin’s smell; one second, and then he throws it off of him with a short gasp. Rin laughs at the scandalized look on Rei’s face.

“Serves you right,” he leers. “I told you to _watch_ me, not daydream.”

Those two inevitably become the same thing; Rei keeps that to himself though. To Rin, he says in an apologetic tone, “Sorry. I was, um, thinking about homework. I should probably be heading home now; it’s getting kind of late.” He glances towards the windows of the natatorium in emphasis, through which a stormy sky and drizzling rain is clearly visible.

A hand comes down on his neck and pushes his face to his knees. “Don’t bullshit,” Rin says lazily, “you probably finished all your work before heading over here. And I didn’t get special permission from buchou to use the pool for nothing.”

“R-Rin-san,” he splutters. “That hurts, stop.”

Rin releases him with a soft _tch_ and when he straightens to direct a reproachful look at his senior, he finds said senior looking at him with a curious expression. Rei rarely swears but he can’t help thinking _oh shit_ when Rin opens his mouth, the look in his eyes solidifying into determination. “You’re spacing out because you have something on your mind,” Rin says, leaning his arms on his knees and watching Rei intently. “What’s up?”

“Um,” he says and he has a feeling that that is as far as he will get. He can feel a flush swiftly climbing his neck, the heat palpable in the gaze of the older swimmer, and he focuses his concentration on delicately folding the towel and placing it on the bench they are sitting on. He stands up and Rin’s eyes follow him like tracking darts. His blush quickly reaches his face.

“You weren’t daydreaming about me, were you?”

Rei feels immeasurably proud of himself when he doesn’t flinch at that. Instead he coughs loudly and rubs the bridge of his nose, feeling the lack of his glasses. Rin stares at him with something akin to amused fascination. “Rin-san,” he manages to say in a normal and more or less steady voice, “Do not be ridiculous. I was watching your stroke as you told me to. I was simply a little absorbed in analyzing your swimming so I may apply certain adjustments to my own style. That is all.”

“Huh,” Rin smirks, leaning back with his arm casually thrown over the bench back. Rei stares resolutely at his face rather than at any purposely flexed muscles. “I might have believed that if you hadn’t tried the ‘homework’ shit earlier. But now I’m starting to think you _were_ thinking about me. What were you thinking about? My skin? My fabulous hair? My ridiculous pecs, maybe?”

“Your inability to be tactful, more like,” Rei shoots back and the shark grin grows wider.

“It’s okay to be attracted to your senpai, you know,” he says with a cocky laugh. “It’s a very popular cliché for a reason. And in this case, it’s not like anyone would _blame_ you.” He laughs again, waggling his eyebrows at Rei.

“I _don’t_ ,” he replies forcefully. “I’m _not_.”

“You’re not?” he asks softly. Some form of censure slips out even as Rei tries his best to keep his composure and Rin straightens up, the smile sliding off of his face. He looks contrite and serious as he stands up to face Rei. “Hey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to push you. I just thought that you’d already…” He shifts his weight in discomfort and his obvious anxiety helps Rei to regain his calm.

“It is quite alright, Rin-san,” Rei says in an officious tone. “But as it is, I must get going.”

Rin doesn’t stop him as he heads towards the locker room. But when he returns, the redhead has an unfamiliar look in his eyes as he stands up. Rei looks in surprise as Rin steps forward, movements slow and fluid, and wraps his arms around his shoulders. Then he stutters and turns red. Rin says nothing and after a few seconds, steps back with a shade of a smile on his face that disappears so fast that Rei thinks he imagines it.

“Hey, could you tell Makoto that the joint practice next week has been shifted to Thursday?” he asks. “Pretty sure Captain’s gonna talk to Gou about it anyway,” Rei feigns complete ignorance as Rin’s tone becomes a little sharper and his gaze more pointed, “but just in case he. _Forgets_.”

“Of course, Rin-san.”

“Great.” Rin grins, bright and light. “I’ll see you then. Later.” Then Rin enters the pool with a beautiful swallow dive.

Rei turns his back on him immediately and argues with himself all the way out to not look around.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **fic has been left unfinished**


End file.
